Bush league rule reversed

GOOD MORNING FLINT!
BY Terry Bankert 3/4/09
http://attorneybankert.com/
Posted first to Blogging for Michigan
http://www.bloggingformichigan.com/frontPage.do
PRESIDENT OBAMA TELLS HIS ADMINISTRATION TO TALK TO SCIENTISTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT BEFORE PUTTING SHOVELS IN THE GROUND.HOW WILL THIS AFFECT THE STIMULUS PROJECTS?
* Obama tells agencies to consult scientists before acting.* Environmentalists praise move to reverse late Bush order.4]
Toward the end of the Bush Era was a scramble to change policies that protect the nation's most at-risk animals and plants. 5]
http://topics.latimes.com/politics/people/barack-obamahttp://topics.latimes.com/politics/people/joe-biden
Obama also announced key changes in implementing the endangered species law TO "help restore the scientific process to its rightful place at the heart of the Endangered Species Act."1]
ENVIRONMENTALIST SAY THIS WILL KEEP THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS FROM DESTROYING WILD LIFE HABITAT AND ENDANGERING SPECIES.
WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO DO THIS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WILL FOLLOW US.
/topic/politics/government/national-government/united-states-ORGOV0000001.topicBUSINESS AND INDUSTRY LOBBYIST ARGUE THAT AT THE VERY TIME WE MUST JUMP START OUT ECONOMY THIS POSITION OF THE PRESIDENT WILL SLOW DOWN OR EVEN STOP ROAD BUILDING AND OTHER SHOVEL READY PROJECTS.
"Francesca Grifo of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an activist group, said the switch would help guard against the potential conflicts of interest and lack of expertise that could color decision-making by any agency hoping to press ahead with a particular project. "After years of scientific scandal, the Interior Department and its partner agencies need desperately to regain credibility by making decisions with honesty, clarity and transparency," Grifo said. 3]
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
Under that interagency process, executive departments and agencies (agencies) contemplating an action that may affect endangered or threatened species have long been required, except in certain limited circumstances, to consult with, and in some circumstances obtain the prior written concurrence of, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) -- the expert agencies that have the primary responsibility to ensure that the ESA is implemented in accordance with the law. 1]
THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY WAS JUMMPING FOR JOY WHEN THE PAST ADMINISTRATION THROUGH RULE MAKING IGNORED PROTECTING YOUR ENVIRONMENT.
"But William L. Kovacs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's vice president of environment, technology and regulatory affairs, said that reviving another layer of review "will result in even greater delays to projects -- including stimulus-backed, job-creating projects -- as agencies now grapple with the prospect of lengthy interagency consultations to determine, for instance, if a bridge project in Florida contributes to the melting of Arctic ice. This is such a departure from the spirit and the letter of the Endangered Species Act that we wonder if the law's drafters would even recognize it today." 3]
GEORGE W BUSH CHANGED THAT COOPERATION, OBAMA BROUGHT IT BACK
"An Interior Department decision earlier in Bush's presidency allowed the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to skip the consultations when setting certain fire management policies. A 2008 government review found that both agencies frequently failed to consider key aspects of the policies' effects on species."2]
WHEN OBAMA PROTECTS THE LAND HE IS PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN ON IT.
"The latest policy shift follows several other administration actions revamping environmental policies, including a reexamination of fuel economy standards and offshore oil drilling; a new review of whether to grant California and other states the right to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles; and the endorsement of a new international treaty negotiation on global mercury emissions." 3]
KEY COMMITTE CHAIRMAN APPALUDS OBAMA
"House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), who had been seeking to overturn Bush's endangered species rule through legislation, called the announcement "one more indication that the new administration truly represents change for the better and is committed to the protection of our natural resources and our environment." 3]
GEORGE W BUSH AT THE VERY END OF HIS TERM, THROUGH RULE MAKING SIDED WITH BUSINESS AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT. THIS SHOWED HIS TRUE CHARACTER OR LACK THEREOF.
"On December 16, 2008, the Departments of the Interior and Commerce issued a joint regulation that modified these longstanding requirements. See 73 Fed. Reg. 76272. This new regulation expands the circumstances in which an agency may determine not to consult with, or obtain the written concurrence of, the FWS or NMFS prior to undertaking an action that may affect threatened or endangered species. But under the new regulation, agencies may continue the previous practice of consulting with, and obtaining the written concurrence of, the FWS and NMFS as a matter of discretion." 1]
WE WILL SELF POLICE SAID THE WOLF TO THE SHEEP.
"Bush's rule change, finalized in December, allowed federal agencies to determine on their own if projects would jeopardize endangered species, instead of consulting with expert biologists, as had been required for the last three decades. It gave agencies the option, if they so chose, of calling on the experts from the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service."2]
LOBBYIST FOR INDUSTRY AND BIG BUSINESS CRY THIS WILL CAUSE MORE RED TAPE.
"Industry lobbyists said Obama's decision Tuesday to mandate the consultations would add "red tape" to infrastructure projects funded by the economic stimulus bill. "This directive throws the brakes on projects," said Bill Kovacs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's vice president of environment, technology and regulatory affairs."2]
OBAMA WILL SLOW DOWN THE GROWING OF WIND FARMS
Even clean energy plans, such as wind farms, could be slowed down, said Michael Olsen, a former Bush Interior official who now lobbies for energy interest at Bracewell and Giuliani. "It's not just projects that folks would term non-green," he said. "It's the green projects, too."2]
SCOFFERS SPEAK UP
Environmentalists scoffed at those warnings. "This kind of scientific consultation was how the Endangered Species Act worked for 30 years," said Athan Manuel, director of lands protection for the Sierra Club. "So I think that's sour grapes."2]
OBAMA JUST WANTS A RETURN TO WHAT HAS WORKED IN THE PAST AND CALLS FOR WILDLIFE RULEMAKING AND AGENCIES TO BE CAREFUL
"I hereby request the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce to review the regulation issued on December 16, 2008, and to determine whether to undertake new rulemaking procedures with respect to consultative and concurrence processes that will promote the purposes of the ESA. Until such review is completed, I request the heads of all agencies to exercise their discretion, under the new regulation, to follow the prior longstanding consultation and concurrence practices involving the FWS and NMFS. "1]
BUSH’S LAST MINUET RULE MAKING WAS ILLEGAL
"This is very good news for endangered species," said Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The regulations that President Bush issued were clearly illegal, and they were bad policy to boot." Michael Bean, director of wildlife programs for the Environmental Defense Fund, said the forced consultation with expert biologists has tempered the ambitions of the Army Corps, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies that "have historically had pretty strong mission drives, which have maybe overwhelmed concerns about species." Consultations have resulted in a variety of measures to preserve species that could be imperiled by government projects, including steps to protect the endangered San Clemente Island loggerhead shrike from the effects of a nearby Navy ship-to-shore live-fire range.2]
ADVOCATES POINT OUT SPECIFIC PROJECTS THAT MUST BE REVISITED
Earthjustice lawyer Janette Brimmer, whose group had challenged the Bush rule in federal district court in California, said she expected that the new administration would reexamine two pending projects: a Bureau of Land Management plan for overseeing Oregon's forests, which was finalized on Dec. 30 and could affect protected species such as the northern spotted owl; and construction of the White Pine coal-fired power plant in Nevada. 3]
INSIDERS TELL THE LOBBYIST NOT TO WORRY
"Administration officials said the move is not likely to trigger broad use of the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. While the Bush rule specifically prohibited endangered species consultations on the basis of "global processes" such as climate change, an Interior official who asked not to be identified said that under the new policy, such a review would be triggered only if scientific evidence suggested "a causal connection" between emissions from a federal project and its effect on specific imperiled species or an identifiable part of its habitat." 3]
THEY CLAIM TO BRING SCIENCE BACK TO THE EQUATION, WE’LL SEE SAY SOME
"I think the Obama administration now is going to take a step back on these projects. It needs to bring science back into the equation," Brimmer said, adding that her group will not drop its lawsuit until it can assess how the new policy is working. 3]
BIG TIME REPUBLICAN IS BIG TIME TEED OFF.

"Eastern Washington's Doc Hastings, a Republican, was torqued:
Our country is in the midst of a terrible economic recession and the federal government should not be taking actions that could stall vital transportation, infrastructure and energy projects that create new jobs. Shovel-ready projects in the trillion-dollar stimulus law could be delayed or halted by this action."5]
Go, Barrack. Yes we will be responsible for the precious and scarce natural resources we we joy today so our grandchildren can enjoy the same tomorrow.
Posted Here by
Terry Bankert 3/4/09
Consider continuing this discussion on face book.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry-Bankert/645845362
– SOURCES
1]
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/03/obama-species-m.html
2]
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-epa-speciesmar04,0,24501.story
3]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/03/AR2009030302620.html
4]
http://uk.reuters.com/article/americasRegulatoryNes/idUKN0350047520090303
5]
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/environment/archives/163315.asp?from=blog_last3

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